After last year’s close games with Manhattanville, YU looked to get revenge for their conference tournament loss to the Valiants. Despite mounting a huge second-half comeback, the Macs couldn’t close out the game, losing a close one 67-64. This marks their first conference loss and drops their overall record to 6-5.
The Macs fell short of exercising demons in a devastating loss to Manhattanville.
How It Happened:
The Valiants wasted no time showing their offensive prowess, jumping out to an early lead thanks to the rebounding and scoring of Ryan Giordano.
After some early struggles, Max Zakheim helped bring the Macs right back into the game.
From there on out the two teams struggled to score, with missed three-pointers and turnovers from both sides.
Any opportunity to take the lead was stifled by the opposition, with the lead rarely exceeding 2-3 points, ending the first half with a 30-25 advantage for Manhattanville.
For the Macs, the halftime break didn’t seem to help; YU struggled mightily on both sides of the ball.
Manhattanville capitalized on this breakdown, unleashing a 16-2 run on the Macs thanks to their consistent three-point shooting.
Finally, Zakheim began forcing YU back into the game with some fast-break buckets before hitting a huge three-pointer to decrease the Valiants’ lead to six points.
The run sparked Zevi Samet as well, and he knocked down two massive three-pointers to cut Manhattanville’s lead all the way down to one shot.
The Valiants wouldn’t let YU take the game away from them, though, as John Ranaghan hit the game-deciding shot to put Manhattanville up by one with under 30 seconds left on the clock.
One more Macs turnover and a missed buzzer-beater from Samet ended the game— and the impressive comeback attempt— with a score of 67-64.
Playing From Behind:
One of the familiar problems for YU this season has been their first-half struggles. While this game saw the Macs clamp down on Manhattanville’s offense early on, their own offense failed to find a significant spark. All the more so in the second half: bad turnovers and tough misses quickly led to the Valiants' massive lead. Although the Macs managed to turn things around, they weren’t able to accomplish what they wanted and instead played constant catch-up with their opposition. With many team statistics practically even, Manhattanville’s 84.6 percent time with the lead is just too high.
Not Giving Up:
Despite the loss, it would be impossible to ignore the impressive effort that was shown by the Macs in the last few minutes. A 19-point lead is not an easy one to come back from, and it is always inspiring to see the team flow seamlessly, even if only for a period of the game. The Macs were ultimately only a few tough plays away from calling this a victory, and their physical play emphasizes their utmost effort to take down one of the better teams in the conference. It’s clear that YU won’t let their new rivals go home without a fight.
Keep It Moving:
The Macs' offense had both its high and low points in this match with Manhattanville, but one of the more noticeable points of success was when Yeshiva pushed the ball down the court. The half-court game saw the team force several tough looks or, even worse, turn the ball over on questionable passes. However, in both the first and second halves when the Macs opted for the fast break, they were able to find relative success. Whether it be from drives and subsequent foul shots by Zakheim or quick three-point daggers from Samet, YU found the most success on the run.
For Manhattanville:
Manhattanville was led by Giordano’s 17 points and complemented by Tommy Lotito’s double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
Much of the game was decided by the superior three-point shooting team, and after an abysmal 1-10 first half, the Valiants managed to flip the script and shoot an impressive 46.7% in the second.
While almost all the team stats found themselves neck and neck, Manhattanville noticeably pulled away in the steals department, capitalizing on Macs’ turnovers to take their massive lead.
For Yeshiva:
After the early struggles offensively, the Maccabees got great games from both Max Zakheim and Zevi Samet, combining for 39 of Yeshiva’s 64 points.
When it came to their efficiency, the Macs did a great job adjusting during the break, boosting their field goal percentage from 34.5% up to 44.8% in the second half.
While defensively the Macs appeared to struggle to avoid fouling their opposition, the Macs were able to cash in on Mahattanville’s similar struggle, going a near-perfect 8-9 during their second-half comeback.
Up Next:
The Macs will look to get back on the winning track this Sunday, December 10, with tipoff scheduled for 2 PM. They will face Mount Saint Mary’s for the second time this season, this time on the road, after defeating them 79-74 in their home opener just a few weeks ago.
MacsLive:
For more Yeshiva Maccabees content follow Macslive on Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.